1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key telephone system (hereinafter often referred to simply as xe2x80x9cKTSxe2x80x9d), a maintenance method therefor, and a medium on which is recorded a program for executing the maintenance method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a key telephone system which immediately and flexibly performs, at low cost and through remote control, a change in the main program of the key telephone system, recovery from failures, and maintenance operations such as diagnosis; to a maintenance method for the key telephone system; and to a medium for recording a program for executing the maintenance method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Like a private branch exchange (PBX), various key telephone systems have already been proposed as a system for providing business users with telephone exchange service. The PBX originated as an exchange for connecting private telephone lines, and during the course of its development a function of connecting the private telephone lines to a telephone network has been added to the PBX. Ir. contrast, the key telephone system originated from the idea of making convenient connection to the telephone network through use of a plurality of telephone sets; for example, through switching of branch telephones. The function of intercommunication between extensions was later added to the key telephone system. In recent years, there has been no definite distinction between the PBX and the KTS, and a choice between the PBX and the KTS is a mere matter of the user""s preference.
FIG. 8 shows the configuration of a telephone network system using such key telephone systems. A conventional key telephone system 101 has two built-in CPU cards 111, 112, in that the CPU card 111 is used as a main CPU card and the CPU card 112 is used as a standby CPU card. The KTS 101 further comprises a built-in analog/digital extension card 113 to be used as an extension interface card and a built-in analog/digital outside line card 114 to be used as an outside line interface card. These four cards 111 to 114 are connected together by way of a system bus and a system PCM highway 115.
The KTS 101 is connected to an analog/digital network 103 by way of the analog/digital outside line card 114 and is further connected to a maintenance site 102 by way of the analog/digital network 103. The maintenance site 102 is made up of a MODEM/TA (modem or a terminal adapter) 51 and a PC (personal computer) 52 and performs maintenance remotely.
The maintenance of such a conventional KTS 101 will now be described. The main program of the KTS 101 is changed on-site through operations such as exchange of memory, or a CPU card, of the KTS 101. Recovery of the KTS 101 from failures is performed by remotely switching the CPU card 111 to the standby CPU card 112. Further, the KTS 101 is diagnosed by means of operations performed through a digital telephone set or personal computer disposed at the client""s location. To remotely diagnose the KTS 101, a diagnostic program incorporated into the KTS 101 beforehand is activated, and the result of such diagnosis is remotely transmitted to equipment installed at a remote site.
As mentioned above, with regard to the conventional key telephone system and the maintenance method therefor, and the medium for recording the program for executing the maintenance program, remotely changing the main program of the key telephone system requires two CPU cards, i.e., the main CPU card and the standby CPU card, thereby increasing the cost of the key telephone system. Further, providing two CPU cards to a key telephone system which usually operates through use of a single CPU card is wasteful even in terms of system configuration.
To remotely diagnose the key telephone system, one type of diagnostic program previously incorporated into the key telephone system is activated irrespective of system configuration. Accordingly, flexible and immediate activation of a relevant diagnostic program corresponding to the installation conditions of the key telephone system or to the nature of failure has been impossible. Further, if maintenance personal desires to change the built-in diagnostic program of the key telephone system, the CPU cards of the key telephone systems disposed at the client""s location must be exchanged, thereby requiring an enormous amount of time and money.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the foregoing circumstances of the conventional key telephone system, and the object of the present invention is to provide a key telephone system, a maintenance method for the key telephone system, and a medium for recording a program for executing the maintenance method. They enable rewriting of a main program of the key telephone system, recovery from failures, and maintenance operations such as diagnosis, in an immediate, flexible, and inexpensive manner by remote control.
To solve the foregoing problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a key telephone system comprising: first storage means which stores a program of the key telephone system; operation control means which operates and controls the key telephone system through execution of the program stored in the first storage means; second storage means which stores a program; downloading means which downloads an alternative program to be rewritten from an external device to the second storage means; and control means which saves the program stored in the first storage means into the second storage means and which transmits and rewrites the alternative program stored in the second storage means to the first storage means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a key telephone system comprising: first storage means which stores a program of the key telephone system; operation control means which operates and controls the key telephone system through execution of the program stored in the first storage means; second storage means which stores a program; downloading means which downloads an alternative program to be rewitten from an external device to the second storage means; control means which saves the program stored in the first storage means into the second storage means and which transmits and rewrite the alternative program stored in the second storage means to the first storage means; failure information recording means which records information regarding at least failures that occur during the downloading of the alternative program by the downloading meant and failures that occur during the saving, transmitting and writing of the alternative program over the program stored in the first storage means by the control means; and recovery means which recovers the key telephone system by reference to the failure information recorded in the failure information recording means in case of occurrence of failure.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a key telephone system comprising: first storage means which stores a program of the key telephone system; operation control means which operates and controls the key telephone system through execution of the program stored in the first storage means; second storage means which stores a diagnostic program; downloading means which downloads an alternative diagnostic program from an external device to the second storage means; control means which saves a diagnostic program having been stored in a first area in the second storage means into a second area in the second storage means and which transmits and rewrites the alternative diagnostic program stored in the second area of the second storage means to the first area; diagnostic means which diagnoses the state of a line connected to the key telephone system according to a diagnostic program stored in the first area of the second storage means, through transmission and receipt of a signal.
Preferably, the second storage means, the downloading means, the control means, the failure information recording means, and the recovery means or the diagnostic means are assembled into a single module and handled, as such.
Preferably, the result of processing performed by the control means, and the failure information recorded in the failure information recording means or the result of diagnosis performed by the diagnostic means, are noticed to the external device.
Preferably, the external device is connected to the key telephone system by way of an analog or digital network, so that the key telephone system is remotely controlled.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of performing maintenance of a key telephone system including storage means which stores a program and operation control means which operates and controls the key telephone system through execution of the program stored in the storage means, the key telephone system maintenance method comprising: a download step for downloading from an alternative program to be rewritten from an external device to a second storage means; a saving step for saving the program stored in the storage means into the second storage means; and a rewriting step for transmitting and rewriting the alternative program stored in the second storage means into the storage means through transmission.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of performing maintenance on a key telephone system including storage means which stores a program and operation control means which operates and controls the key telephone system through execution of the program stored in the storage means, the key telephone system maintenance method comprising: a download step for downloading an alternative program to be rewritten from an external device to second storage means; a saving step for saving the program stored in the storage means into the second storage means; a rewriting step for transmitting and rewriting the alternative program stored in the second storage means into the storage means through transmission; a failure information recording step for recording information regarding at least failures that occur in the download step, the saving step, and the overwriting step, and a recovery step for recovering the key telephone system by reference to the failure information recorded in the failure information recording step.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of performing maintenance of a key telephone system including storage means which stores a program and operation control means which operates and controls the key telephone system through execution of the program stored in the storage means, the key telephone system maintenance method comprising: a download step for downloading a program to be changed from an external device to second storage means; a saving step for saving the existing program stored in a first area of the second storage means into a second area of the second storage means; a rewriting step for transmitting and rewriting the alternative program stored in the second area of the second storage means into the first area of the storage means; and a diagnosing step for diagnosing the state of a line connected to the key telephone system according to a diagnostic program stored in the second storage means, through transmission and receipt of a signal.
Preferably, the result of processing performed by the control means, and the failure information recorded in the failure information recording means or the result of diagnosis performed by the diagnostic means are communicated to the external device.
Preferably, the external device is connected to the key telephone system by way of an analog or digital network, so that the key telephone system is remotely controlled.
Preferably, the key telephone system maintenance method is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program for causing a computer to execute the key telephone system maintenance method.
In the foregoing key telephone system, key telephone system maintenance method, and recording medium, the download means downloads an alternative program to be rewritten to the second storage means from the external device (in the download step), and the control means saves the program stored in the first storage means into the second storage means (in the saving step) The control means rewrites the alternative program stored in the second storage means into the first storage means (in the rewriting step). As a result, the alternative program stored in the second storage means is transmitted to and rewritten into the first storage means. Compared with conventional changing of a program through on-site replacement of memory or a CPU card, a program can be changed without involving massive amounts of time and money. Further, the program according to which operations of the key telephone system are controlled can be changed immediately and inexpensively.
Further, in the foregoing key telephone system, key telephone system maintenance method, and recording medium, the download means downloads from the external device an alternative program to be rewritten into the second storage means (in the download step), and the control means saves into the second storage means the program stored in the first storage means (in the saving step). The control means transmits and rewrites the downloaded alternative program stored in the second storage means into the first storage means (in the rewriting step). The failure information recording means (in the failure information recording step) records information regarding at least failures that occur by the downloading action of the download means (in the download step), failures that have been caused by the saving action of the control means (in the saving step), and failures that have been caused by the rewriting action of the control means (in the rewriting step) Further, in the event of a failure, the recovery means recovers the key telephone system (in the recovery step) by reference to the failure information recorded by the failure information recording means (in the failure information recording step). As a result, by reference to the recorded failure information, a decision is made as to when the failure occurred; i.e., in the download step, in the saving step, and in the rewriting step. The rewriting of the main program can be resumed from the processing step in which the failure occurred. So long as after recovery of the key telephone system the processing is resumed from the processing step in which the failure occurred, the time required for rewriting the program can be eventually shortened. Further, self-recovery functions are provided to the key telephone system beforehand so as to correspond to various failures, so that the key telephone system is prevented from being inactive at the time of various maintenance operations.
Further, in the foregoing key telephone system, key telephone system maintenance method, and recording medium, the download means downloads from the external device a program to be changed in the second storage means (in the download step), and the control means saves the existing program stored in a first area of the storage means into another memory location of the second storage means (in the saving step). The control means rewrites the existing program in the second storage means with the diagnostic program downloaded in the second storage means. According to the diagnostic program stored in the second storage means, the diagnostic means diagnoses the state of a line connected to the key telephone system through transmission and receipt of a signal (in the diagnosing step). Thus, the existing diagnostic program previously stored in the second storage means or an arbitrary diagnostic program downloaded from an external device is executed. As a result, even when a key telephone system is installed in a remote location, a failure of the key telephone system can be diagnosed. More specifically, the key telephone system can be immediately and inexpensively diagnosed without direct dispatch of a maintenance technician to the location where the key telephone system is installed. Further, since the diagnostic program can be changed by way of the external device, a relevant diagnostic program corresponding to the locationxe2x80x94the installation conditions of the key telephone system and a failure of the key telephone systemxe2x80x94can be immediately and flexibly activated.
In the foregoing key telephone system, the second storage means, the downloading means, the control means, the failure information recording means, and the recovery means or the diagnostic means are assembled into a single module and handled, as such. So long as the module is, for example, implemented in the form of a card or mounted on a printed board having a predetermined shape, the handling of the module can be facilitated during maintenance, thereby facilitating, e.g., replacement of the module. In contrast with a conventional key telephone system having a standby CPU card, the conventional key telephone system according to the present invention has another card in place of the standby CPU card. The card according to the present invention enables fulfilling of various types of maintenance functions. Compared with the conventional key telephone system, the key telephone system according to the present invention enables more efficient utilization of space (or the volume occupied by the card).
Further, in the foregoing key telephone system, key telephone system maintenance method, and recording medium, the result of processing performed by the control means (in the rewriting step), and the failure information recorded in the failure information recording means (in the failure information recording step) or the result of diagnosis performed by the diagnostic means (in the diagnostic step) are preferably communicated to the external device. As a result, the changing of the program of the key telephone system, the recovery of the key telephone system from a failure, and system diagnosis can be flexibly and immediately carried out without direct dispatch of a maintenance technician to the location where the key telephone system is installed.
Further, in the foregoing key telephone system, key telephone system maintenance method, and recording medium, the external device is preferably connected to the key telephone system by way of an analog or digital network, so that the key telephone system is remotely controlled. As a result, the changing of the program of the key telephone system, the recovery of the key telephone system from a failure, and system diagnosis can be flexibly and immediately carried out without direct dispatch of a maintenance technician to the location where the key telephone system is installed. Therefore, compared with the maintenance of a conventional key telephone system which would require an enormous amount of time and money, the maintenance of the key telephone system according to the present invention can be performed with minimum expenditure of time and money.